Device and method for supplying a cooled airflow to at least one location for cooling

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a device for supplying a cooled airflow to at least one location for cooling. The present invention also relates to a method for supplying a cooled airflow to this at least one location for cooling using such a device.

The present invention relates to a device for supplying a cooled airflowto at least one location for cooling. The present invention also relatesto supplying a cooled airflow to at least one location for cooling usingsuch a device.

In regions with a warm climate it is usual to provide the spaces wherepeople spend time with an air conditioning with which the air in thespace can be conditioned, generally cooled, as required by personspresent in the space. This cooling of the air in said spaces entails aconsiderable energy consumption. There is therefore a need for a devicewhich enhances comfort and which is also energy-efficient.

The device according to the invention comprises a cooling unit forgenerating a cooled airflow; and a guide duct for guiding the cooledairflow from the cooling unit to the at least one location for cooling,wherein substantially the whole wall of the guide duct is permeable tothe air of the cooled airflow, an outflow part of the wall of the guideduct has a first air permeability, and a guide part of the wall has asecond air permeability, wherein the outflow part of the wall can beplaced close to the at least one location for cooling and the airpermeability of the outflow part of the wall is higher than the airpermeability of the guide part of the wall.

This device makes it possible, by means of the placing of the outflowpart of the wall of the guide duct close to a specific location forcooling within a space, for instance a bed or a workplace, toconcentrate the cooled airflow on this specific location. This makes thedevice according to the invention energy-efficient compared to a devicewith a supplied airflow which cannot be concentrated on the specificlocation. Because not only the outflow part of the wall of the guideduct but substantially the whole wall is moreover permeable to the airof the cooled airflow, it is possible here to avoid undesirable effectsof the guiding of the cooled airflow through the guide duct, such ascondensation on the wall of the guide duct. Such condensation can forinstance reduce comfort when the condensation falls from the wall ontothe bed, the workplace, or even onto the persons making use thereof.Such condensation is a problem particularly in regions with a relativelyhigh air humidity.

In a favourable embodiment of the device according to the invention theoutflow part of the wall of the guide duct can be placed above the atleast one location for cooling. This measure makes it possible to usegravitational force to allow the relatively cold air to move downward tothe location for cooling and the persons making use thereof. This hasthe advantage that the outflow speed of the cooled air of the airflowfrom the outflow part of the wall of the guide duct can be lower,whereby the noise generated by the airflow as it passes through the wallof the guide duct, and thereby the nuisance it causes, is reduced whilethe persons moreover experience the comfort of a descending cool air.

In a further advantageous embodiment of the device according to theinvention the temperature of the cooled airflow is at least 2° C. lowerthan the temperature of the ambient air. The temperature of the cooledairflow which is at least 2° C. lower relative to the temperature of theambient air ensures that the cooled air moves downward to the locationfor cooling by means of gravitational force, wherein the person makinguse of the location experiences a pleasant cooling without draught.

In a further favourable embodiment of the device, wherein the outflowpart of the wall of the guide duct can be placed above the at least onelocation for cooling, the outflow part of the wall of the guide duct canbe placed at a distance of preferably between 100-300 cm, morepreferably between 150-250 cm, and still more preferably substantially200 cm above the at least one location for cooling. This distance of forinstance 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 225, 250, 275, 300 cm is found toenable a good distribution of the cooled airflow over the location forcooling, while in respect of its height the device is also suitable forplacing in an existing space.

In a further embodiment of the device according to the invention,wherein the outflow part of the wall of the guide duct can be placedabove the at least one location for cooling, the device also comprises aframe with which the outflow part of the wall of the guide duct can beplaced above the at least one location for cooling. This measure forinstance enables simple placing of the device above the desired locationfor cooling. The device can thus be embodied for instance as adisplaceable unit which can be easily placed in an existing space inorder to supply cooled air to a specific location in this space.

In a favourable embodiment hereof the guide duct is suspended in theframe by means of a mounting extending between the guide duct and theframe. This measure makes it possible for instance to physicallyseparate the guide duct from the frame and thus avoid condensation onthe frame or on the wall of the guide duct when a relatively coldairflow is supplied. In a further embodiment the mounting has asubstantially airtight part extending from the wall of the guide ductover a distance of preferably at least 10 cm, more preferably at least20 cm, and still more preferably at least 30 cm in the direction of theframe. This measure for instance makes it possible, when a relativelycold airflow is supplied to a location for cooling, to avoid warm airpresent above the outflow part of the guide duct being entrained by theairflow. The efficiency of the device can hereby be further improved,this making the device more energy-efficient.

In a further favourable embodiment of the device according to theinvention the cooling unit comprises a suction mouthpiece for drawing inan airflow for cooling, which suction mouthpiece can be placed under theoutflow part of the wall of the guide duct. This measure enables atleast partial re-cooling in the cooling unit of a cooled airflowsupplied to the location for cooling. The cooled air which has flowedout of the outflow part of the wall of the guide duct placed above thelocation for cooling will move downward under the influence ofgravitational force and is then drawn in again by the cooling unit underthe outflow part. Although it will be warmed to some extent before it isdrawn in again, the temperature of this air is cooler than the ambientair, whereby only a small measure of additional cooling is necessary,this making the device more energy-efficient.

In a further favourable embodiment of the device according to theinvention the wall of the guide duct is of textile. This measure makesit possible for the airflow to leave the guide duct almost silently,thereby maintaining the comfort of the person making use of thelocation.

In a further favourable embodiment of the device according to theinvention the outflow speed of the air of the cooled airflow from theoutflow part of the wall of the guide duct is preferably between0.04-0.12 m/s, more preferably between 0.06-0.10 m/s, and still morepreferably substantially 0.08 m/s. These outflow speeds of for instance0.04; 0.05; 0.06; 0.07; 0.08; 0.09; 0.10; 0.11 and 0.12 m/s, togetherwith the acceleration exerted on the cooled air by gravitational force,ensures that the speed of the airflow is so low when it reaches a personmaking use of the location for cooling that this person experiences acomfort-enhancing cooling without the airflow being perceived here asdraughty.

In a further favourable embodiment of the device according to theinvention the air permeability of the outflow part of the wall ispreferably between 200-1400 m³/m²/hour at a static pressure of 120 Pa,more preferably between 400-1200 m³/m²/hour and still more preferablybetween 600-1000 m³/m²/hour. This air permeability of the outflow partof the wall of the guide duct of for instance 200, 300, 400, 500, 600,700, 800, 900, 1000, 1100, 1200, 1300, 1440 m³/m²/hour at a staticpressure of 120 Pa has been found highly suitable for realizing acomfort-enhancing device, and particularly for realizing the abovestated outflow speeds of the air of the airflow flowing out of theoutflow part of the guide duct.

In a further favourable embodiment of the device according to theinvention the air permeability of the rest of the wall is preferablybetween 10-80 m³/m²/hour at a static pressure of 120 Pa, more preferablybetween 15-70 m³/m²/hour and still more preferably between 20-60m³/m²/hour. This air permeability of the rest of the wall of the guideduct of for instance 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70m³/m²/hour at a static pressure of 120 Pa has been found highly suitablefor effectively avoiding condensation on the wall of the guide duct.

The invention also relates to a method for supplying a cooled airflow toat least one location for cooling using an above described device.

A favourable embodiment of the method according to the inventioncomprises the step of placing the outflow part of the wall of theair-permeable guide duct above the at least one location.

The present invention will be further elucidated hereinbelow on thebasis of exemplary embodiments which are shown in the accompanyingfigures. These are non-limitative exemplary embodiments.

In the figures:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a device accordingto the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of thedevice of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the application of the device of FIG.2 for supplying a cooled airflow to a workplace for cooling;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of the operation of an embodiment of thedevice according to the invention; and

FIGS. 5 a and 5 b show a schematic cross-sectional view of an embodimentof the guide duct of the device of FIG. 4; and

FIGS. 6 a and 6 b show a schematic cross-sectional view of analternative embodiment of the guide duct of FIGS. 5 a and 5 b.

FIG. 1 shows a device 1 for supplying an airflow to a location 2 forcooling. Shown in device 1 is a cooling unit 3 which supports on groundsurface 4 of location 2 for cooling. Cooling unit 3 has a suctionmouthpiece 5 and an outlet mouthpiece 6. Via suction mouthpiece 5cooling unit 3 draws in air from the location 2 for cooling in thedirection of arrow D. The indrawn air is then cooled by means of coolingunit 3 and blown out via outlet mouthpiece 6 as a cooled airflow intoguide duct 7. Guide duct 7 guides the cooled airflow to the location 2for cooling. The whole wall 8 of guide duct 7 is permeable to the cooledair of the airflow so that cooled air from the cooled airflow beingguided toward the location 2 for cooling flows out substantiallyeverywhere on wall 8 of guide duct 7. An outflow part 8 a of wall 8 ofguide duct 7 placed above the location 2 for cooling has a first airpermeability. A guide part 8 b of wall 8 of guide duct 7 has a secondair permeability. Because the air permeability of outflow part 8 a ofwall 8 of guide duct 7 is higher than the air permeability of guide part8 b of wall 8 of guide duct 7, the cooled air from the cooled airflow isguided mainly along guide part 8 b of wall 8 and the cooled air of thecooled airflow flows out mainly at outflow part 8 a of wall 8. Thecooled air flowing out of outflow part 8 a of wall 8 moves downward tothe location 2 for cooling in the direction of arrow C as a result ofthe outflow speed and under the influence of gravitational force. Thisoperation of device 1 is further elucidated hereinbelow with referenceto FIG. 4.

FIG. 1 also shows that outflow part 8 a of wall 8 of guide duct 7 isplaced above the location 2 for cooling by means of a frame 9, whereinguide duct 7 is suspended in frame 9 by means of a mounting 10 extendingbetween guide duct 7 and frame 9. Wall 8 of guide duct 7 is for instanceof textile. Web 10 is for instance also of textile so that web 10 andguide duct 7 for instance appear to form an integral whole. If desired,device 1 can be displaced over ground surface 4 in simple manner inorder to thus place outflow part 8 a above another location for cooling.

FIG. 2 shows an alternative embodiment of device 1 of FIG. 1. Thisdevice 11 is also shown with a cooling unit 3 which blows out cooled airin the form of a cooled airflow into a guide duct 7 with a wall 8 withan outflow part 8 a and a guide part 8 b. In this device 11 outflow part8 a of wall 8 of guide duct 7 is also placed above the location 2 forcooling by means of a frame 9, wherein guide duct 7 is suspended inframe 9 by means of a mounting 10 extending between guide duct 7 andframe 9. In device 11 shown in FIG. 2 however, frame 9 forms an arc sothat guide duct 7 is also arcuate. FIG. 3 shows device 11 of FIG. 2,wherein outflow part 8 a of wall 8 of guide duct 7 is placed above anoffice chair 12 so that cooled air flowing out of outflow part 8 a ofwall 8 moves downward in the direction of arrow C to desk chair 12.

The operating principle of a device according to the invention,including devices 1 and 11 of FIGS. 1-3, is further elucidatedhereinbelow on the basis of the device 13 shown schematically in FIG. 4.

Device 13 is shown with a cooling unit 3. Cooling unit 3 has a suctionmouthpiece 5 and an outlet mouthpiece 6. Cooling unit 3 draws in air inthe direction of arrow D via suction mouthpiece 5. The indrawn air isthen cooled by means of cooling unit 3 and blown out via outletmouthpiece 6 as a cooled airflow in the direction of arrow E into guideduct 7. In this exemplary embodiment guide duct 7 guides the cooledairflow to two locations 2 a and 2 b for cooling. The whole wall 8 ofguide duct 7 is permeable to the cooled air of the airflow so thatcooled air of the cooled airflow which is guided to the locations 2 forcooling flows out substantially everywhere on wall 8 of guide duct 7, asshown by the airflows shown as zigzag arrows F and G. An outflow part 8a of wall 8 of guide duct 7 placed above each location 2 a and 2 b forcooling has a first air permeability. A guide part 8 b of wall 8 ofguide duct 7 has a second air permeability. Because the air permeabilityof outflow part 8 a of wall 8 of guide duct 7 is higher than the airpermeability of guide part 8 b of wall 8 of guide duct 7, the cooled airof the cooled airflow is guided mainly along guide part 8 b of wall 8 sothat relatively little air from the cooled airflow flows through guidepart 8 b of wall 8 (indicated with the relatively short zigzag arrowsF), and the cooled air of the cooled airflow flows out mainly at outflowpart 8 a of wall 8 placed above the locations 2 a and 2 b for cooling(indicated with the relatively long zigzag arrows G). Becausesubstantially the whole wall 8 is permeable to the cooled air of thecooled airflow blown into guide duct 7, the relatively warm air in thevicinity 14 of wall 8 of guide duct 7 is kept at a distance so that thisrelatively warm ambient air cannot condense against wall 8 of guide duct7.

The cooled air flowing out of outflow part 8 a of wall 8 moves downwardto locations 2 a and 2 b for cooling in the direction of arrow C as aresult of the outflow speed and under the influence of gravitationalforce and accumulates on ground surface 15, as indicated with hatchingH. Because suction mouthpiece 5 of cooling unit 3 is placed underoutflow part 8 a of wall 8, or downstream relative to the cooled airflowing out of this outflow part 8 a (zigzag arrows G), the air whichhas accumulated, and which has by now warmed up to some extent, is drawnin again by cooling unit 3 via suction mouthpiece 5 in the direction ofarrow D and re-cooled.

As shown in FIG. 4, outflow part 8 a is placed at a distance I above theground surface of the locations 2 a and 2 b for cooling.

FIG. 4 shows that device 13 supplies cooled air to two locations forcooling. Alternatively, the device according to the invention can supplycooled air to one or more than two locations for cooling.

FIGS. 5 a and 5 b show a schematic cross-sectional view of an embodimentof guide duct 7 of device 13 of FIG. 4. FIG. 5 a shows a cross-sectionat the position of the sections A of guide duct 7 of FIG. 4. FIG. 5 bshows a cross-section at the position of sections B of guide duct 7 ofFIG. 4. FIGS. 5 a and 5 b show that guide duct 7 is suspended in frame 9by means of a mounting 10 extending between guide duct 7 and frame 9.Mounting 10 has a substantially airtight part 10 a extending from wall 8of guide duct 7 through a distance J in the direction of frame 9. FIG. 5a shows that at the position of section A wall 8 of guide duct 7 isformed wholly by guide part 8 a of wall 8, so that in section Arelatively little air of the cooled airflow flows through guide part 8 bof wall 8 (indicated with relatively short zigzag arrows F). FIG. 5 bshows that at the position of sections B of guide duct 7 the upper partof wall 8 is formed by guide part 8 b of wall 8, while the lower part ofwall 8 is formed by outflow part 8 a of wall 8 of guide duct 7, so thatrelatively little air from the cooled airflow flows through guide part 8b of wall 8 from the upper part of wall 8 (indicated with the relativelyshort zigzag arrows F), and a relatively large amount of air of thecooled airflow flows through guide part 8 a of wall 8 from the lowerpart of wall 8 (indicated with the relatively long zigzag arrows G).FIGS. 5 a and 5 b also show that the substantially airtight part 10 a ofmounting 10 avoids relatively warm air from the vicinity 14 beingentrained in the direction of arrow K with the cooled air flowing out ofoutflow part 8 a of wall 8. FIG. 5 b also shows that part of the cooledair flowing out of outflow part 8 a (indicated with the relatively longzigzag arrows G) is deflected under the influence of gravitationalforce.

FIGS. 6 a and 6 b show a schematic cross-sectional view of analternative embodiment of the guide duct of FIGS. 5 a and 5 b. In thisalternative embodiment the cross-section of the guide duct has ahalf-round form instead of a round form as in the embodiment as shown inFIGS. 5 a and 5 b.

The cross-section of guide duct 7 of FIGS. 5 a, 5 b, 6 a and 6 b canalso take a different form, such as square, rectangular, triangular etc.

The airtight part of mounting 10 of FIGS. 5 a, 5 b, 6 a and 6 b can alsoextend over only a part of the distance J from wall 8 in the directionof frame 9.

1. A device for supplying a cooled airflow to at least one location forcooling, comprising: a cooling unit for generating a cooled airflow; anda guide duct for guiding the cooled airflow from the cooling unit to theat least one location for cooling; wherein substantially the whole wallof the guide duct is permeable to the air of the cooled airflow; anoutflow part of the wall of the guide duct has a first air permeability,and a guide part of the wall has a second air permeability, wherein theoutflow part of the wall is configured to be placed close to the atleast one location for cooling, and the air permeability of the outflowpart of the wall is higher than the air permeability of the guide partof the wall.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein the outflow part of thewall of the guide duct is configured to be placed above the at least onelocation for cooling.
 3. The device of claim 1, wherein the temperatureof the cooled airflow is at least 2° C. lower than the temperature ofthe ambient air.
 4. The device of claim 2, wherein the outflow part ofthe wall of the guide duct is configured to be placed at a distance ofbetween 100-300 cm above the at least one location for cooling.
 5. Thedevice of claim 2, wherein the device further comprises a frame withwhich the outflow part of the wall of the guide duct is configured to beplaced above the at least one location for cooling.
 6. The device ofclaim 5, wherein the guide duct is suspended in the frame by means of amounting extending between the guide duct and the frame.
 7. The deviceof claim 6, wherein the mounting has a substantially airtight partextending from the wall of the guide duct over a distance of at least 10cm in the direction of the frame.
 8. The device of claim 1, wherein thecooling unit comprises a suction mouthpiece for drawing in an airflowfor cooling, which suction mouthpiece is configured to be placed underthe outflow part of the wall of the guide duct.
 9. The device of claim1, wherein the wall of the guide duct is made of textile.
 10. The deviceof claim 1, wherein the outflow speed of the air of the cooled airflowfrom the outflow part of the wall of the guide duct is between 0.04-0.12m/s.
 11. The device of claim 1, wherein the air permeability of theoutflow part of the wall is between 200-1400 m³/m²/hour at a staticpressure of 120 Pa.
 12. The device of claim 1, wherein the airpermeability of the guide part of the wall is between 10-80 m³/m²/hourat a static pressure of 120 Pa.
 13. A method for supplying an airflow toat least one location, comprising supplying the cooled airflow from thedevice as claimed in claim 1 to the at least one location.
 14. A methodas claimed in claim 13, further comprising placing the outflow part ofthe wall of the air-permeable guide duct above the at least one locationfor cooling prior to supplying the cooled airflow.
 15. The device ofclaim 4, wherein the outflow part of the wall of the guide duct isconfigured to be able to be placed at a distance of 150-250 cm above theat least one location for cooling.
 16. The device of claim 7, whereinthe mounting has a substantially airtight part extending from the wallof the guide duct over a distance of at least 20 cm in the direction ofthe frame.
 17. The device of claim 7, wherein the mounting has asubstantially airtight part extending from the wall of the guide ductover a distance of at least 30 cm in the direction of the frame.
 18. Thedevice of claim 10, wherein the outflow speed of the air of the cooledairflow from the outflow part of the wall of the guide duct is between0.06-0.10 m/s.
 19. The device of claim 11, wherein the air permeabilityof the outflow part of the wall is between 400-1200 m³/m²/hour at astatic pressure of 120 Pa.
 20. The device of claim 11, wherein the airpermeability of the outflow part of the wall is between 600-1000m³/m²/hour at a static pressure of 120 Pa.